Battle of Aricia

The Battle of Aricia, part of the Roman-Volscian Wars, was fought between the Roman Republic and the Volsci in 396 BC near what is now Ariccia in the Alban Hills south of Rome. The Roman Legio I Alaudae pursued the Volsci, who had been previously defeated at the Battle of Mons Aries as they attempted to capture Rome, and the ensuing battle saw the Romans inflict yet another defeat on the Volsci. Although the Volsci armies survived the defeat, their king Marcus Crispus and their general Gnaeus Balventius Hadrianus were both slain, major blows to their cause.

Background
The Volsci king Marcus Crispus sought to build a central Italian power rivalling that of the Roman Republic by conquering both the Hernici and Rome itself, and he initiated this grand project in 397 BC by declaring war on both nations. His forces quickly took Anagni and forced the Hernici to become his clients, and he assembled two armies for the conquest of Rome. In 396 BC, these armies were defeated by the Roman general Marcus Furius Camillus in the Batte of Mons Aries to the south of Rome, and the Volscian armies withdrew into northern Latium. Camillus, whose Legio I Alaudae was now equal in strength to the Volscian armies, decided to bring the war to the Volscian homeland by pursuing the Volscian armies and bringing them to battle near present-day Ariccia in Lazio.

Battle
The Roman legion advanced south in a linear formation, with the melee infantry forming the first row, the skirmishers forming the second row, and Camillus and his personal bodyguards bringing up the rear. The Volsci army was deployed in the typical Italic formation: the skirmishers formed the first two rows of the army, while the melee infantry formed the rear; the skirmishers would peel away as the enemy infantry charged, allowing for their own melee infantry to charge into battle. However, the Romans brought a new kind of strategy to the battlefield, the same strategy which had defeated Veii in the north. The Roman melee infantry cohorts charged at the skirmishers as the Roman skirmishers rained fire on the Volscian melee infantry. As the main battle was fought in the center, Roman cohorts on the flanks would wheel around and attack the sides of the defending Volsci army. As the Romans and Volscians had the same number of troops, the Romans were unable to envelop the entire Volscian army, and the central portion of the Roman army suffered considerable losses as a result.

However, Camillus used the Volscians' own strategy against them. The Volscian skirmishers peeled away to allow for the melee infantry to charge into battle with the Roman melee infantry, but Camillus himself led a cavalry charge around the Volscian flank to charge the hapless Etruscan skirmishers. Without any melee infantry forces available to fight off the Roman cavalry, the Volscian army found itself being slaughtered from two sides. Some Etruscan spearmen fighting for the Romans ran off to pursue the fleeing Volscians, leading to the central Roman force faltering; however, these spearmen later returned to the main battle at a crucial moment and completed the rout of the Volscian army.

Aftermath
The Volscian general Gnaeus Balventius Hadrianus was killed in battle, while Marcus Crispus was captured. The Romans finally achieved their goal of having the Volscian king at their mercy, and Camillus avenged the Volscians' unprovoked invasion of Rome by having Crispus put to the sword alongside 246 other Volscian captives. Camillus withdrew his legion back to Roman territory to replenish and resupply, preparing a full-scale invasion of Antium for the next year.